[ BUSINESS BRIEFS ]

The TAIEX ended in negative territory yesterday as the electronics sector led a downward trend amid concerns over global demand for high-tech devices, dealers said.

Selling focused on large-cap electronics stocks, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), after several US counterparts reported disappointing earnings for the third quarter of this year, dealers said.

However, selected “old economy stocks,” in particular ones with close business ties to China, appeared more resilient on hopes that the Chinese authorities will come up with further stimulus measures to boost that country’s economy, they added.

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.59 percent to close at NT$86.70, and Hon Hai, which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, shed 1.94 percent to end at NT$85.80. The weighted index closed down 56.65 points, or 0.76 percent, at 7,408.76, on turnover of NT$58.20 billion (US$1.99 billion).

Communications chips surge

The worldwide production value of chips used in communications devices is expected to outpace that of chips used in computers by 2014, putting communications chips at the top of the global integrated circuit sector, a research report said on Thursday.

In the report, IC Insights forecast that the global output of communications chips will reach US$114.4 billion by 2014, 4.6 percent higher than the US$109.4 billion value expected for computer chips. After 2014, communications chips are likely to remain the biggest category, it said.

IC Insights forecast a 9.2 percent annual increase in the output value of communications chips this year to US$90 billion and estimated the production value of computer chips at US$100.7 billion. Next year, the figures are likely to be US$100.5 billion for communications chips and US$103.4 billion for computer chips, it said.

IC Insights said communications chips accounted for 31.2 percent of the total global chip output last year, while computer chips made up 41.7 percent. However, by 2016, communications chips will comprise 42.2 percent of the total IC output and computer chips only 34 percent, IC Insights said.

Job fair lists 3,000 openings

More than 3,000 job openings were offered by 37 employers in the electronics and manufacturing sectors at a job fair in Taichung on Thursday.

The job fair, organized jointly by the Central Taiwan Science Park and Taichung City Government, attracted a crowd of about 6,000, with 5,500 job seekers submitting resumes, according to Yang Wen-ke (楊文科), director-general of the park.

Tang Kuo-tai (唐國泰), CEO of the Central Taiwan Joint Services Center under the Executive Yuan, said the primary job match rate at the fair was about 50 percent.

Meanwhile, exports from companies at the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) rose 19.08 percent year-on-year in the third quarter to NT$96.25 billion (US$3.29 billion), Yang said. Revenue for this year is estimated at NT$300 billion, compared with NT$291.1 billion last year, he said.

Cautious markets watch euro

The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday for a second day, declining NT$0.017 to close at NT$29.286 amid cautious sentiment toward global demand, dealers said.

The quiet trading session came as many traders watched the eurozone’s ongoing debt woes before EU leaders wrapped up their latest summit later in the day, they said.